The present invention relates to a living body optical measurement system and an imaging method in the system and more particularly, to a living body optical measurement system and an imaging method which are adapted to measure in vivo information by using light and to image results of measurement.
Desired in clinical medical treatment is a system or a method for measuring the interior of a living body with ease without adversely affecting the living body. Measurement using light is very effective to the desirability. The first reason for this is that the oxygen metabolic function inside the living body corresponds to the concentration of a specified pigment (hemoglobin, cytochrome aa3, myoglobin or the like) in the living body, that is, the concentration of a light absorber and the concentration of the specified pigment can be determined from an absorption amount for light (having wavelengths of from visible rays to near infrared rays). The second reason is that light can be handled easily by optical fibers. The third reason is that optical measurement does not harm the living body when used within the safety standards.
A system which utilizes the advantages of the living body measurement based on light to irradiate light having wavelengths of from visible rays to near infrared rays on a living body and measure the interior of the living body from reflection light at a location about 10 to 50 mm distant from an irradiation position is described in, for example, patent disclosures of JPA-63-277038 and JP-A-5-300887. Also, a system for measuring CT images of the oxygen metabolic function from light transmitting through a living body having a thickness of 100 to 200 mm, that is, an optical CT system is described in, for example, patent disclosures of JP-A-60-72542 and JP-A-62-231625.
Known as a conventional living body optical measurement system is an oximeter for measuring the degree of oxygen saturation in the artery (JP-A-55-24004). The oximeter is a system in which light having a plurality of wavelengths is irradiated on a living body, the transmitting light intensity or reflection light intensity from the living body is measured, and spectroscopic characteristics of reduced hemoglobin (Hb) and hemoglobin oxide (HbO2) and pulsation waves are utilized to calculate the degree of oxygen saturation in the artery.
Also known as a method for measuring the degree of oxygen saturation in tissues of a living body (average degree of oxygen saturation in both the artery system and the vein system) and the hemodynamic amount is a method by Jöbsus et al (JP-A-57-115232). This method utilizes spectroscopic characteristics of Hb and HbO2 to measure the degree of oxygen saturation and the hemodynamic amount in tissues of a living body.
To add, in the present specification, transmitting light, reflection light and scattering light are not particularly discriminated from each other and the intensity of light which is emitted from a light source, interacts with a living body and then is detected by a photodetector is called the transmitting light intensity.
Problems that the invention is to solve are three as below.
(First Problem)
In order to analyze the function of a living body, a change in hemodynamic movement due to loading is sometimes measured from the difference between the hemodynamic movement when a load is applied to the living body and the change in hemodynamic movement during unloading.
The hemodynamic movement during unloading is not always constant but changes with time. As an example, a time-variable change in transmitting light intensity is shown in FIG. 1 which is obtained when light is irradiated on a temporal of a subject who lies quietly on his or her back and the transmitting light intensity is measured at a point 3 cm distant from a light irradiation position. As illustrated in FIG. 1, while fluctuation in the measuring system is only about 0.3%, the living body transmitting light intensity changes irregularly and greatly as a whole while exhibiting periodical change components. The fluctuation in transmitting light intensity is attributable to a change in the hemodynamic movement in the living body.
Even when the subject keeps quiet, the irregular change occurs in the transmitting light intensity signal in this manner and consequently, when the transmitting light intensity upon start of measurement is treated as a reference value, change in hemodynamic movement due to load is difficult to separate from the measured signal. Further, this causes the observer to be prevented from deciding whether a time-variable change in a measured signal displayed on a display unit or a time-variable change in hemodynamic movement calculated from the measured signal is due to fluctuation owned by the living body or is due to the application of a load. Accordingly, in the prior arts, the transmitting light intensity upon start of measurement is treated as the reference value and therefore, there arises a problem that the subject must be kept to be quiet to maintain the reference value and the measurement cannot be proceeded with for a long period of time until the signal becomes stable.
(Second Problem)
It has hitherto been known to optically measure the cerebral cortex under the skull with an optical spot by means of a light generating and receiving element and a fiber, but measurement of an image of a hemodynamic state covered with the protective tissues such as skin tissues and bone tissues, that is, measurement with a plurality of measuring points, has been neither disclosed nor suggested.
For extraction of light signals, the measuring time, i.e., the number of integral operations of measurement must be increased. As a result, the measuring time is prolonged and not only a mental burden is imposed on the subject but also the operation efficiency of the system is degraded.
The present invention intends to solve the prior art problems as above.
(Third Problem)
With the prior arts, the degree of oxygen saturation in the artery or the hemodynamic movement in the living body tissues can be measured. But, the prior arts cannot discriminate an change in hemodynamic movement due to an overall change in the living body from a change in hemodynamic movement due to a local change in the living body.
On the other hand, only the change in hemodynamic movement due to the local change in the living body is sometimes desired to be detected.
For example, in the cerebrum of the living body, a local portion exists which acts in correspondence to each function of the living body (hereinafter referred to as a functional portion) and the hemodynamic amount or the degree of oxygen saturation at the functional portion of the cerebrum changes locally in correspondence to an arbitrary function of the living body. At that time, if a change in hemodynamic amount or in degree of oxygen saturation at only the arbitrary functional portion can be measured locally, then the action of the cerebral functional portion can be examined in detail, contributing to a great importance from the standpoint of medical science.
For example, the signal representative of fluctuation in transmitting light intensity in FIG. 1 is difficult to discriminate because an overall hemodynamic movement signal in the living body is accompanied by fluctuation and even when only the local hemodynamic movement changes, a signal indicative of the change is buried in the fluctuation.